Sir, – Not for the first time, a reversal for the Irish men’s rugby team has generated much heat and little light in the Letters page. Michael Joy (March 14th) states the Welsh won thanks to the “passion of the players and supporters singing their own anthem in their own language”.
If the much derided Ireland's Call is to blame for our defeat in Cardiff, it must be surprising to the letter writer that Ireland have won seven of the 11 championship fixtures in that venue since the song's introduction in 1995.
Ireland's Call, though undoubtedly flawed, both musically and lyrically, is an honest and well-intentioned attempt to unite the two traditions on this island, whenever a green shirt is pulled on. Our failure to support it says much about us as a nation. – Yours, etc,
RONAN McDERMOTT,
Rathgar, Dublin 6.